Oak Flooring is the most popular flooring choice in america. It is abundantly available, durable, and easy to use. It is also extremely popular with builders as ti
mber. American Oak is distinguished into two chief categories: Red Oak and White Oak. Both are very common hardwood flooring choices in america. Both are very durable, take stain beautiful and is comparatively simple to use, meaning their oil content doesn’t typically interfere with completing this timber and they do well with different finishing processes(i.e. polyurethane, or oiled).
White Oak hardwood is somewhat more compact than Red Oak hardwood using a Janka rating of 1360 and Red Oak with a Janka rating of 1290.
Both Red and White pine trees grow in several states across the US and South central Canada. You will find both trees down as Texas and Louisiana to as north as Nova Scotia and Maine and as far west as Minnesota and lots of countries in between.
These are old climbing trees and may be as outdated as a few hundred decades. When installed as floors, Red and White Oak hardwood gets the capability to survive more than a lifetime.
White Oak and Red Oak differ in color and graining. White oak has a tighter grain pattern and can be somewhat darker than red oak. While white oak may have some vibrant colors, its colors are more brown/grayish in color. Red Oak graining is somewhat more prominent, open and less linear than white oak. Red Oak will have brownish colors but its most notable hue is pinkish/red.
Now that we’ve summarized the gap between the American Oak, let us look at another 
Oak that’s been trending recently, European Oak.
What exactly is European Oak?
It’s a totally amazing hardwood originating from several countries in Europe- many commonly used European Oak comes in France, England, and Germany. You will frequently here interchangeable terms for European oak for example French Oak or English Oak.
European Oak has the same Janka rating of 1360 as American White Oak.
What’s the difference between Western Oak and European Oak?
Aside from its geographic gap, which in and of it self automatically makes the hardwood look different, the color, hues and graining are different from American Oaks.
European Oaks is going to get a milder, wavier grain pattern compared to American oaks that often have quite pronounced graining.
American Red Oak has a pinkish hue with some brown tones into it. Even though American White Oak sunglasses are more brown/grayish in colour but may have some pinkish tones to it.
European Oaks on the other hand are somewhat darker with a warm brown tone to it.
Milling
European Oak is known and sought for it’s longer lengths and wider widths. Because of the manner in which the tree grows, the sapwood of European Oak is thicker and wider than its heartwood versus American Oaks. If you remember from previous blog post, the sapwood of the tree is clearer with less discrepancies than the heartwood of a tree. The heartwood is the region of the tree at which you will discover knots, worm holes and darker timber. Since the sap wood is thicker in Western Oak, you will find clearer and more pick pieces in a wider widths.
Additionally, the way in which the hardwood is milled is rather different than the way American Oak is hammered. In fact, many American mills has become keen on how European Oaks are milled and they have begun milling the hardwood in precisely the exact same manner.
Live-sawn is whenever the log of the tree is cut straight through from front to the back. The beauty of live sawn is that the entire different cuts of timber are integrated into this specific type of cut. This offers the floors a gorgeous appearance with the natural graining showing through in the entire log. This cut of flooring yields a very solid hardwood flooring.
American Oak is typically cut using three main sawing methods, plain, rift or quartered.
Finishing Method
European Oaks are finished using an Oil which is absorbed into the wood itself. This is 
not to be confused with an Oil Based Polyurethane. Technically speaking, an oil or water based polyurethane is a URETHANE finish.
The oil that is employed to European Finished Floors is penetrated deep into the wood and seals it by closing the pores of the hardwood. When the oil comes in contact with the hardwood, the seal is more or less instantaneous. An oil finish has a more natural appearance than completing with an oil or water polyurethane. An oil finish warms the wood rather than sitting on top of the hardwood. The graining is felt and you have the ability to walk and use the true hardwood. Apply a water or oil polyurethane, on the other hand, does not absorb into the wood but instead functions as a protective coating. While utilizing the floor with an oil or water based polyurethane, you are walking on the end rather than the wood itself.
Oil or water based polyurethane finishes, which is the very popular finishing method is American, doesn’t absorb into the wood in exactly the exact same manner as an oil finish. It is implemented using many coatings to protect the floor to create a barrier-like surface.
Oil finishes are getting to be much more popular in the US and many manufacturers are creating wonderful products to complete your flooring.
It’s possible to finish an American Oak floor employing an oil. A skilled finisher should be hired in doing so. The application method is different than employ a urethane(whether oil or water) base end.
Just like anything, there are pros and cons to consider when choosing between a petroleum finish a urethane finish.
